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The Swan Princess
The Swan Princess is a 1995 American animated film based on the ballet, Swan Lake. Starring the voice talents of Jack Palance, John Cleese, Steven Wright, and Sandy Duncan, the film is directed by the former Disney animation director, Richard Rich, produced by Nest Family Entertainment and Rich Animation Studios, with a music score by Lex de Azevedo. The film was followed by two direct-to-video sequels:'' The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain'' (1997) and The Swan Princess: Mystery of the Enchanted Treasure (1998). Plot The film begins with an aging king named William (Dakin Matthews) who has a daughter named Odette (Michelle Nicastro/Liz Callaway). His friend, the widowed Queen Uberta (Sandy Duncan) decide to have Odette and the Queen's son, Prince Derek (Adam Wylie/Howard McGillin), meet every summer with hopes they'd fall in love, so as to unite their kingdoms as one. At first, while Odette and Derek are still children, this fails to work. Years pass, and Odette and Derek reach young adulthood. During this time, the two finally begin to fall in love. However, during a royal ball, Derek expresses his wish to marry her for just her looks, which upsets Odette into rejecting him again. She leaves the next day with her father, but en route, they are attacked by Rothbart (Jack Palance), an evil sorcerer who desires William's kingdom for himself. He kidnaps Odette and fatally injures William; Derek, alerted to the situation, arrives on the scene, where William tells him "It's not what it seems..." before dying. Despite Uberta's efforts to find another princess for her son to marry, Derek becomes determined to find Odette. Elsewhere, Rothbart has taken Odette to his castle lair at Swan Lake and casts a spell on her that makes her turn into a swan during the day and a human again during the night. The spell can only be broken by a vow of everlasting love. He asks her to marry him every night, but she always refuses. During her captivity, Odette befriends an old Turtle named Speed (Steven Wright), a frog named Jean-Bob (John Cleese), and Puffin (Steve Vinovich), a bird. Puffin, after learning about the workings of Rothbart's spell, devises a plan to reunite Odette with Derek. Together with Puffin, Odette finds Derek, who has gone searching for her with his friend Bromley (Joel McKinnon Miller). However, he mistakes her for the "Great Animal," a bat-like monster that King William had told him about before his death, and tries to kill her. The ensuing chase leads Derek to Swan Lake, where he witnesses Odette change from swan to human. The two share a happy reunion, but almost immediately, Rothbart comes calling. At Odette's urging, Derek leaves with the hopes of meeting her at a ball being held by Uberta. Unfortunately, Rothbart finds Derek's bow (which Derek left behind), and has Odette, in swan form, imprisoned within the castle dungeon. He then plans to send Bridget (his hag sidekick), disguised as Odette, to the ball instead. Rothbart has also found Bromley, whom he has thrown in the dungeon with Odette. Odette's friends free her, but when she gets to the ball, she sees that she has been replaced and tries to warn Derek. However, she is unable to, partly due to Bridget's attempts to keep Derek from seeing her, and Derek makes the vow to Bridget. Rothbart then arrives and reveals his plans to Derek. Desperate to save Odette, Derek races to Swan Lake, while Odette flies back to the lake as Rothbart's curse drains her life force. Derek arrives too late, and Odette dies in his arms, though not before she admits her love for him. Derek confronts Rothbart, demanding he not let Odette die. To Derek's surprise, Rothbart is revealed to be the Great Animal (Frank Welker) that King William had mentioned. Battle ensues, with Rothbart overpowering Derek and nearly killing him. Fortunately, Odette's animal friends return Derek's bow to him, and Bromley, who has escaped from his earlier imprisonment, provides Derek with a single arrow. Derek catches the arrow and seemingly kills Rothbart by firing it straight into his heart. Voice cast *Michelle Nicastro as Princess Odette, a princess who transforms into a swan during the day time. Liz Callaway provides her singing voice. *Howard McGillin as Prince Derek, the son of Uberta. Adam Wylie and J.D. Daniels provide young Derek's singing voices. *Jack Palance as Rothbart, a sorcerer who casts a spell against Odette. Lex de Azevedo, the film's composer, provides Rothbart's singing voice. and Frank Welker as Rothbart transforming himself into the Great Animal. *John Cleese as Jean-Bob, a frog. David Zippel provides his singing voice. *Steven Wright as Speed, a turtle. Jonathan Hadary provides Speed's singing voice. *Steve Vinovich as Puffin *Sandy Duncan as Queen Uberta, Derek's mother *Dakin Matthews as King William, Odette's father *Mark Harelik as Lord Rogers *Joel McKinnon Miller as Bromley. Wes Brewer provides his singing voice *James Arrington as the Chamberlain. Davis Gaines provides the Chamberlain's singing voice. *Brian Nissen as the narrator Musical Numbers *Prologue *This Is My Idea *Practice, Practice, Practice *Far Longer Than Forever *No Fear *No More Mr. Nice Guy *No Fear (Reprise) *Princesses on Parade *Far Longer Than Forever (End Titles) - Regina Belle and Jeffrey Osborne *Eternity (End Titles) - Dreams Come True Popularity A Filipino version of The Swan Princess was released on April 12, 2011 through "Summer Super Sine" on TV5 for the benefit of the Philippine audience. Reception The Swan Princess received U.S. theatrical release on November 18, 1994, the same release as the re-release of Disney's The Lion King, and only made $2,445,155 on its opening weekend. It eventually had a total domestic gross of $9,771,658. The critical response to The Swan Princess was mixed. Currently, the film has a "C" grade at Box Office Mojo. As of 2010, Rotten Tomatoes has a 44% ("rotten") score, based on 8 reviews. One of its three "fresh" ratings there was from Roger Ebert (three out of four stars). Category:Films Category:The Swan Princess